The Lost Prophecy
by LillyAngel
Summary: Post Ootp, AU: More than a thousand years ago, a prophecy was made, one that has been lost for over a thousand years. That is, until now... HPGW, RWOC, RWHG DISCONTINUED
1. The Train

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, why would I be writing here, when I could be making money off ofit! I do, however, own all characters not mentioned in the books, as well as a good deal of the plot.

A/N: Welcome all to the first chapter of my new fic, The Lost Prophecy, or LP for short. It is an AU Harry Potter fic set in sixth year. Warning to all though, the rating will go up in the future for... content, and there are (gasp!) OC's. If you no likee, you no readee. Comprenez-vous? Oui! Bien! So without further ado, The Lost Prophecy ladies and gentlemen!

"Blah" speaking

"_Blah"_ thinking

The Lost Prophecy

Chapter 1: The Train

The summer was coming to a close.

It was September 1 and Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley pushed their trunk-laden trolleys along Platform 9 ¾, weaving their way amongst the small groups of people gathered there. A new year of school was about to begin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The summer had been hard for Harry, what with the death of his godfather, Sirius. For the first week after the end of term, he had mostly kept to his room at 4 Privet Drive. The Dursleys, being of course the caring family they were, completely ignored him, leaving Harry to wallow in his misery. Returning to the Order Headquarters was some help. Through the combined efforts of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, with help from Fred and George, Harry at least didn't hide in his room as often.

OWL results had come. Hermione, to no one's surprise, had managed to get Outstanding's in every subject with the exception of Astronomy (the reason being that she, like many of the people in her year, was too distracted by the night's events to properly finish.) She achieved a total of 13 OWL's.

Ron surprised himself by achieving 9 OWL's, with Outstanding's in Defense against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures.

Harry had gotten 10 OWL's, and managed to get Outstanding's in Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures. He had felt a slight surge of joy at this, knowing that Professor Snape would have to let him into his NEWT's Potions class. That joy soon disappeared when he realized that it would mean another two years of class with Snape.

One thought still dwelled in Harry's mind, however: how to defeat Voldemort. After finding out about the prophecy, it become clear to him that he had to either take out Voldemort, or die trying.

Hopefully it was the former rather than the latter. He had neglected to tell Ron and Hermione about the prophecy, however, knowing all too well what their reactions would be.

A few minutes later, Harry was sitting alone in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Ron and Hermione had left for the prefect's car and Ginny had gone to see her boyfriend, Dean. Harry was just starting to settle into another wave of depression when the compartment door opened. Standing there were two girls.

The two were about the same height. One of the girls had wavy dark brown hair that reached just below her shoulders and green eyes that rivaled Harry's. The other girl had waist-length chocolate brown hair and gold coloured eyes. They were both wearing robes of dark violet.

"Excuse me," the green-eyed girl asked, "can we sit in here?" Harry noticed that, rather than having a British accent, the girl had a North American accent.

"Sure, no problem," Harry replied, feeling rather grateful for the company. He didn't want the time to dwell on his life. He had enough of that, thank you very much.

The two girls shuffled into the compartment, the green eyed girl lugging a cage with a black owl in it. They sat down on the seat across from Harry. Then the golden-eyed girl gasped.

"Are you Harry Potter?" _Here we go again_ Harry thought. He nodded, just then remembering that he didn't smooth his hair over his scar as usual.

"I'm Evelyn Keyes, but please call me Evie," she said, extending her hand. "This is Janina MacDonald, also known as Nina." She gestured to her friend. Harry looked over at Nina, who was staring out the window, entranced.

"Nina? Hello?" Evie was poking the other girl, trying to snap her out of her trance. It worked as Nina gave a little jump.

"Oh, hi," she said, blushing slightly. Evie rolled her eyes.

"So," Harry spoke, trying to make a conversation, "are you two transfers or something? I haven't seen you at Hogwarts before."

"Yes. We, along with eight other students, are transferring from the Maple Academy of Magic in Canada." _Well_, Harry thought, _this was starting to make for an interesting year already. _

"You're in sixth year, right?" Evie nodded. "I've been reading a lot about Hogwarts," she said, pulling a copy of Hogwarts, a History from her bag. "I hope I'm in Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor won't be bad either. I just hope I'm not going to be in Hufflepuff or Slyth-" she broke off at the look on Nina's face, which had contorted into a sort of grimace.

"Bet you any money I'm in Slytherin," she said dryly. "My dad graduated from Hogwarts and then moved to Canada. Almost all of my dad's family has been in Slytherin." Harry was momentarily speechless.

"There is a good chance that you won't be in Slytherin. My godfather," he paused. "All of my godfather's family was in Slytherin, but he was sorted into Gryffindor." Nina smiled at him.

"Thanks, but I'm still pretty sure I'll be in Slytherin."

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the train, two other transfers were settling in. Their names were Ciara and Miranda, and they had a goal to be the new Fred and George Weasley. They were plotting the prank of pranks, one that would be sure to shake things up a bit…

Back in the compartment, Harry was conversing with Evie and Nina. Nina had somewhat come out of the shell she was in and had become more talkative. They talked about random things: Hogsmede (both girls were really excited about the trips), classes, Quidditch (Nina was a chaser back at her old school), and magic schools when the compartment door opened.

Standing there was one of Harry's least favourite people in the world: Draco Malfoy. Only today, he was flanked not by his two cronies Crabbe and Goyle, but a tall, slender blond girl in the same purple robes that both Evie and Nina wore.

"Well Potter, what do we have here?" Draco sneered. "Who are they?" He stared at Evie and Nina. Nina returned his stare, unblinking, but Evie instead focused her attention on the blond girl.

"Hiya Isabelle," she said. The blond girl smiled. "Evie, Nina, there you two are! I want to introduce to my new friend. His name is-" Isabelle was cut off when Harry stood up, fuming.

"Get the hell out of this compartment, Malfoy," he growled. Draco smirked. "It's a free country, Potter. I can stay here if I want. Especially now that we've found Isa's friends."

"I don't care. Get the hell out or I'll hex you, Death Eater scum!" He whipped out his wand, Draco doing the same.

"God, Draco, save it for school," Isabelle said in an exasperated tone. She tugged on Draco's robes. "If you can't be nice, we're leaving." Draco growled, then rushed out of the compartment.

Isabelle turned to Nina and Evie. "See you guys later," she said as she left the compartment.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Nina asked, turning to Harry. Harry briefly explained to the two girls about the animosity between him and Draco.

"Evie, I'd watch out for him if I were you. He hates anyone who isn't pureblood and filthy rich like he is. Add that to the fact that his father is a death Eater and recently escaped from Azkaban."

Over the summer, Lucius Malfoy and all the other Death Eaters arrested at the Ministry of Magic had broken out of Azkaban. Well, there wasn't really much to break out of now that the Dementors had joined Voldemort and the Ministry officials in Azkaban were probably under the Imperious curse.

Evie smiled. "Don't worry, Harry. I think I'll be able to handle that snobbish twerp." Nina giggled a bit at this statement.

"By the way," Harry asked, "who was that girl with Malfoy?"

"That's Isabelle Stevenson," answered Evie. "She's one of my best friends, also being a transfer." A thought suddenly occurred to Harry.

"Hang on. If Malfoy's here, that means that the prefect meeting should be over. Where are Ron and Hermione?" His question was answered a minute later when, for the third time that day, the compartment door opened, and Hermione stepped in.

"There you are, Harry. I've been looking all over for you. I just ran into Malfoy out there. He's with some blond girl. Must be his new girlfriend, although I can't say I've seen her before." Nina snorted, and Hermione jumped, not having noticed the two girls before.

"Isa, that twat's girlfriend? Hardly. Isa swore off guys a long time ago," Nina clarified. Harry, seeing Hermione's apparent confusion, hastily made introductions.

"By the way, Hermione, where's Ron?" he asked. Hermione frowned.

"That idiot? He decided to go find Ginny and Dean to see if they were snogging somewhere." Everyone laughed at this statement. They reverted back to the earlier conversation about magical schooling, Hermione joining in with ease. A few minutes later, Ron stepped in. He, however, noticed Evie and Nina right away.

"Oh, you two must be transfers. I met another one of you out in the hall. Some bloke named Blake who was making passes at a pair of seventh year girls." Nina and Evie both laughed at this.

"Good old Blake," Evie said. "Can't even wait a day before hitting on the first girls he sees."

Conversation continued in the compartment, and a couple of hours later, they would soon be arriving at Hogwarts.

_Well,_ Harry thought, _"this is sure going to be an interesting year."_

A/N: I you like this chapter, review, and give me **constructive criticism **or just tell me how much you like it. All flames will be used to roast my beta-reader (Just jokingRitsu!) Before you flame me, however, many thanks to Ristu-chan for beta-ing this chapter. Without her, I would be very lost indeed. Until next chapter!


	2. The Sorting

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Get that in your head. I do own Nina, Evie, and any other character not recognizable as belonging to J.K. Rowling. Now shut up and get on with reading my lovely story!

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get this posted. I had planned to have it posted within the week but things got held up. _Coughritsuchancough!_ Many thanks to said beta reader for beta-ing this chapter and giving rather…interesting comments. Until further notice, this story, as well as Beyond Blue Eyes, shall be my top priorities. Anyways here it is, enjoy!

"Blah," speaking

"_Blah," _thinking and the Sorting Hat

Chapter 2: The Sorting 

It was rainy and dark when the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmede. The small group exited the train, Evie and Hermione talking animatedly, while Ron talked to a now sullen Harry. Nina drifted silently along behind them like a ghost. When they arrived at the carriage, though, she gasped.

"Thestrels," she breathed. Harry nodded.

"You see them too?" he asked.

"See what?" Evie questioned, looking very puzzled.

"Thestrels," Harry replied.

"Thestrels? As in the things you can only see if you saw someone die?" Harry nodded.

"First years and transfer students this way!" The booming voice of Hagrid, Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher sounded over the crowd. Nina and Evie bid the others farewell and ran over to join the group assembled around Hagrid. Harry looked back at the small group one last time before climbing into the carriage.

The carriages arrived at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped into the entrance hall, where Neville and a Dean-less Ginny joined them. They went into the Great Hall, and sat down at the Gryffindor table; Hermione, Ron, and Neville on one side, Harry and Ginny on the other.

"I hope that they go through the Sorting fast! I'm hungry!" complained Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You're always hungry," she said, "Besides, I wouldn't count on it. With transfers this year, the Sorting will probably take longer than normal. Ron groaned at this statement. Ginny motioned for them to be quiet as the doors opened, Professor McGonagall leading first years and transfers students alike into the Great Hall. She put down the three-legged stool down and placed the Sorting Hat on top. When the sorting hat had finished its song, she called out the first name.

"Arnold, Aaliyah!" a petite, blond girl pranced up to the Hat and put it on.

"_Hufflepuff_!" The first years continued to be sorted until finally, "Whulby, Alan!" became a Ravenclaw. Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"This year," he said, "we are pleased to welcome transfers students from the Maple Academy of Magic in Canada. They, too, will be sorted." He nodded to Professor McGonagall.

"Adams, Shelly!" A tall light-haired girl walked up to the stool.

"_Gryffindor_!" the Hat screamed. Shelly walked over to the applauding Gryffindor table.

"Bowen, Warren!" Warren was a boy with caramel coloured hair and a very freckled face.

"_Ravenclaw!"_

"Claibourne, Ciara!" A girl with auburn hair stepped forward.

"_Gryffindor!"_ She came and sat down beside Shelly.

"deMarles, Miranda!"

"_Gryffindor!"_

"Keyes, Evelyn!" Harry watched as Evie walked to the front. The Hat thought for a bit before yelling, _"Ravenclaw!"_

"MacDonald, Janina!" Harry crossed his fingers as Nina put on the Hat. The Hat waited almost a full minute before shouting out, _"Slytherin!"_ He watched as Nina sulkily walked over to the cheering Slytherin table and sat down across from Malfoy. He watched as "Santos, Dallas!" a small dark-eyed girl was sorted into Hufflepuff and, "Stevenson, Isabelle!" not to his surprise, was sorted into Slytherin. There were now only two transfers left: a tall Chinese boy and a raven-haired girl with mysterious eyes.

"Yu, Blake!" The Chinese boy was sorted into Hufflepuff and, "Zabini, Marijah!" was sorted into Slytherin. The Sorting was finally over.

The dark eyes of Blaise Zabini watched as Marijah Zabini walked towards the Slytherin. Then, she saw him, a look of shock forming on her face.

"Hello Aunt Marijah."

A/N: I am well known for my cliffhangers. Bwahah! Sorry that this chapter was so short! The next chapter will be posted as soon as I type it up and send it off to Ritsu. Until next time!

Next chapter: Family confrontations, Warren's sexual orientation, and the New Fred and George.

To my reviewers:

**FanFan Fan:** In answer to your questions: 1) Yes they will, but... 2) Now you know! Thanks for reviewing!

**HarpKid:** Thanks fot the review!

**Isabelle Stevenson:** Hyperness good!


	3. Conversations and Accusations

A/N: With the release of HBP, this story is now officially AU. However, I will be incorporating some themes of HBP that I was going to put in anyways. I would also like to point out that this chapter is unbeta-ed, seeing as how ritsu-chan hasn't sent it back. I will repost when I receive it. In the meantime, enjoy! 

Many thanks to Kaitlin Hiwatari for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I no own. Happy now you disclaimer Nazis?

Chapter 3: Conversations and Accusations

The last person that Marijah Zabini was expecting to see as she approached the Slytherin table was her nephew, Blaise Zabini.

"Blaise," she asked, "what are you doing here?"

Blaise blinked. "Well," he leaned back in his chair, smirking, "last time I checked I went to school here." Marijah just about slapped him. She knew that, idiot. Glancing over, she spotted Nina, Isabelle, and Draco watching the exchange with interest. Marijah glared at them.

The story of how Blaise Zabini was the same age as his aunt was rather complicated. It all started when Giovanni Zabini married a woman named Elizabeth Meyers. Soon after their wedding, Elizabeth became pregnant, giving birth to a son, Carlo. Unfortunately, Elizabeth had an affair with another man, and Giovanni divorced her. Soon after, he married Mariko Mikage, a woman who was very near in age to Carlo. Enraged at his father's decision, he got married soon after his Hogwarts graduation, to a woman by the name of Catherine McGregor. Mariko and Catherine had both gotten pregnant at the same time, and Mariko gave birth first. A week later, Blaise was born.

The simple exchange between Marijah and Blaise was now turning into a full-blown argument. Ignoring the storm brewing beside them, Draco had introduced himself to Nina.

"Say Nina," he asked, "are you by any chance related to Lawrence MacDonald?"

Nina nodded. "He's my dad."

"Really? I think he and my father were mates at school. He was in Slytherin, right?" Janina nodded again.

"All of my family has been in Slytherin. My mother, however, went to Beauxbatons."

"Are you pureblood?" Nina frowned.

"Yes, why do ask?"

"Well it would be _terrible_ if you somehow wound up in Slytherin with dirty blood, right?" Draco turned to Isabelle. "What about you?"

"I'm pureblood. My grandparents went to Hogwarts as well. They left England after Grindelwald's defeat." She looked over at the pair of Zabinis. By now she wasn't the only person. Most of the Slytherin table, as well members of the neighbouring Hufflepuff table, was watching the "conversation" taking place.

"You have to listen to me! I'm older!" Marijah shrieked.

"By what, a week?" Blaise retorted.

"Fine! I'm still your aunt!"

"Though you choose not to acknowledge it." Marijah growled, and started to bang her head on the table.

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Over at the Hufflepuff table, Dallas Santos and Blake Yu were watching the exchange with interest.

"Wow," Blake said, amazed. "That's like the only time that I've heard Mariah speak."

"Her name's Marijah, but otherwise you're right," Dallas added.

"I don't think it's proper," a boy who had introduced himself as Ernie Macmillan spoke, adjusting his prefect's badge. "They're awfully loud. It's a wonder that the teachers haven't done anything yet." He nodded at the staff table.

Indeed, the teachers seemed to be ignoring the Slytherin spat, seeing as how they were all in deep conversation with one another. Only Snape remained quiet. As if he had heard Ernie, his eyes slowly drifted over to the Slytherin table. As his focused on the two Zabinis, a sneer that might have been a smirk of amusement formed on his face. He wouldn't do anything. They were Slytherins, after all.

Dallas shrugged and started talking to Hannah Abbott. Blake had resumed hitting in the two seventh years, Marie Whitten and Ella Ramsey, from the train.

Needless to say, he was quite unsuccessful in getting a date, but more successful in earning glares from the girl's boyfriends.

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Evie and Warren Bowen were fitting in their fellow brains at the Ravenclaw table. Evie had stuck her nose into Hogwarts, a History. Warren had gotten into a 'serious' conversation with Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner.

"So Warren, got a girl?" asked Anthony, smirking.

"No," Warren replied.

"Then are you gay?" Evie looked up from her book and people around them stared at the boys, waiting for the answer.

"What the hell! No way!" Warren shrieked. "I am completely 100 straight!"

Anthony shrugged. "Just checking."

"I thought you were dating that Evie girl," Terry lowered his voice. "You two look close."

"We've been friends since we were little. We grew up across the street from each other."

"Where are you from in Canada? I've heard that cities like Montreal and Quebec City have a history of magic," asked Padma Patil, who had been listening to their conversation.

"I'm from Calgary, Alberta. Not much magical history there. But Nina," Warren pointed over to the Slytherin table, "grew up in Montreal."

"Are you muggleborn, then? I've heard that the majority of pureblood families live in Ontario and Quebec." Warren nodded.

"Evie's muggleborn, too." It was actually quite amazing that we both turned out to be magical."

"So, sure you're not gay?"

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Ron Weasley had gotten the surprise of his life when the three transfers came and sat down at the Gryffindor table. When he had introduced himself to the trio, Miranda and Ciara looked surprised.

"Any relation to Fred and George Weasley?" Ciara asked.

"They're my brothers. You know them?"

"We met them at their store in Diagon Alley," Miranda explained. "We promised them that we would carry out their legacy now that they had left Hogwarts."

"Well as long as you don't break school rules," said Hermione. Miranda gave her an appraising look.

"You're a prefect aren't you? Evie and Ninny were prefects back at Maple." Ron blinked.

"Evie? Ninny?"

"Evelyn and Janina," clarified Ciara. "Evie insists on being called by her nickname, and Janina prefers to be called Nina. The only person who can get away with calling her Ninny is Miranda."

"Anyone else gets glared at, or hexed," said Shelley, who had excused herself from a conversation with Dean Thomas about football teams. They all looked over at the Slytherin table. Blaise and Marijah were still fighting, but by this time, Professor McGonagall was making her way over there. Hermione shook her head.

"Slytherins, don't they ever learn?"

"They all can't be that bad," Shelley insisted. "Nina is in Slytherin, and she's really nice."

"Well," Ron answered, "there hasn't been a witch or wizard in Slytherin who hasn't gone evil." Miranda laughed.

"I find it really hard to imagine Nina going evil. Same with Isabelle. That Marijah girl however…"

"What about Marijah?" questioned Harry.

"Well, she really keeps to herself. She rarely talks to anyone. In fact, I don't think she has any friends."

"That's not true," Shelley said. "There is that one girl she hangs out with. Alias Mandelle I thin her name is."

"With the exception of Alias, she virtually a loner." Ciara nodded in agreement to Miranda's statement.

"So, you would trust Isabelle and Nina?" Ron asked.

"With my life," Ciara and Miranda said in unison. The feast slowly started to wind down as dessert appeared. When the last bits of pie and pudding had disappeared, Dumbledore stood up.

"I have a few start of term notices. Let me remind you all that the Forest on the grounds is forbidden, as is the village of Hogsmede to all those under third year. The list of banned objects has been updated to include all Weasley joke shop items, and can be found in Mr. Filch's office. Mr. Filch would also like me to remind you that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes. Tryouts for the Quidditch teams will take place the second week of term. Please talk to Madam Hooch if you are interested.

"On another note, I would like to welcome Professor Sykes, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." A wave of applause roared throughout the Great Hall, as a tall dark haired man with piercing blue eyes stood up at the staff table.

"On a graver note, I would like to impress on all of you the seriousness of the days to come. With the return of Lord Voldemort," the entire hall flinched, "I urge you all to be on your guard. I will not lie to you as the Ministry has done for so long. Hogwarts is safe, but only for so long. I will rely on the Head Boy and Girl, the prefects and all those in fifth year and above to help in case the castle is invaded.

"Now, I'm sure that you are all tired from your journey. Prefects, I ask that you lead your houses up to your dormitories. Have sweet dreams, and dwell not on the battles to come."


	4. A Bad First Day

A/N: This chapter is my birthday present to you. It is currently unbeta-read because ritsu-chan is away on holidays. I will post to beta-ed version when she comes back. Until then, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own Harry Potter. Which is also why you'll buy these shoes I'm offering… NOT!

Chapter 4: A Bad First Day

A pair of green eyes slowly opened as Janina MacDonald was pulled from the realm of dreams. She sat up, disorientated in the way that people usually are when they first awaken in a new place. Green hangings replaced the violet that she was used to. Nina realized that she was now at Hogwarts, in the Slytherin sixth year girl's dorm. She was in the Snake Pit.

Slowly, Nina dragged open her bed hangings and looked around the room at the beds of her dorm mates. They were all still sleeping, or were they? It was, after all, 7:30 in the morning. Yanking off her blankets, Nina got out of bed and got dressed in her new black Hogwarts robes. She thought briefly of putting on at least something purple, but then decided against it. After all, she was a Slytherin now, whether she liked it or not.

Sighing, Nina made her way down the dormitory stairs into the common room. Unfortunately for her, the common room wasn't empty. Draco Malfoy sat sprawled out gracefully on a green sofa. He looked up as Nina entered the room.

"Well, at least someone's up," he drawled.

"Yeah. It's the first day of term and classes start at nine. You would think that more people would be up and about. Why are you up?"

"I promised I'd meet Isabelle down here before breakfast. Is she up yet?" Nina shook her head.

"I can go and wake her up if you want."

"Don't bother," Draco insisted. "Let her sleep. Now, would you do me the honour of coming down to breakfast with me?" He held out his hand to her. Nina inwardly groaned. No, she did not want to go down to breakfast with him. She was planning on meeting Miranda.

"Actually," Nina said, "I've already promised someone that I would meet them at breakfast."

"Who?" Draco asked, frowning.

"My _best_ friend, Miranda." Draco's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"But she's a Gryffindor!" he exclaimed.

"Just because I'm in Slytherin doesn't mean that I'm going to cut ties with my old friends." Draco scoffed.

"Gryffindor is full of Mudbloods and muggle-lovers."

"Well Mira is neither. The deMarles are an old wizarding family after all." She wasn't going to mention that Miranda was half-blood.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to meet." Nina turned on her heel and left the Slytherin common room.

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Down in the Great Hall, Miranda deMarles sat at the Gryffindor table, rather impatient at Nina's lateness. One, Nina was never late (It was always Miranda who kept Nina waiting) and two, she was starving! Miranda loved food, and was almost always hungry. Her mother once commented that if she continued to eat like she did, she would get fat.

Luckily for her, Miranda had an exceptionally fast metabolism.

Finally, Nina came through the doors of the Great Hall. Miranda could tell right away that she was pissed. Her face, which was normally a tad bit pale, had gone tomato red. Nina came and sat down across the table from Miranda.

"I hate Draco Malfoy!" she yelled. Luckily for Nina, there were no teachers around, and hardly any students. She ranted on.

"He's such a little…snake! I mean, who does he think he is!" Miranda nodded, not really knowing what Nina was ranting about.

"He thinks he bloody well owns the world. I swear, if I ever hear the term 'Mudblood' come out of his mouth again, I might have to kill him!"

"Kill who?" Hermione Granger came and sat down beside Miranda.

"Draco Malfoy," Miranda clarified.

"You and many others. Sometimes, I have a strong urge to strangle him." Hermione said, "Especially when he calls me a Mudblood. I did slap him once, though."

Miranda grinned. "Good for you."

"Oh, so that's what he meant by Gryffindor being full of muggle-borns and muggle-lovers," Nina mused. "Well, the little git is just full of himself. I don't know what Isabelle sees in him." Hermione and Miranda nodded in agreement, and started eating.

A few minutes later, Nina suddenly dropped her fork. Her face went sheet white and her eyes went glassy, staring blankly ahead.

"Nina, are you okay?" Hermione said shakily.

"Nina?" Miranda questioned. Nina snapped out of her trance. She quickly got up from the table and started to walk quickly towards the doors, Hermione and Miranda following. Out in the Entrance Hall, Miranda caught up with her friend.

"_Qu'est-ce que c'est? Qu'est-ce que tu as vu?_" she asked, sneaking glances at Hermione to see if she was listening. Nina shook her head.

"I have to go!" Nina turned around and ran towards the Slytherin common room. On her way there, she nearly knocked over Draco and Isabelle, as well as Marijah and Blaise Zabini, who were arguing again. She ran up to her dorm room, throwing herself on her bed and lying there until much later.

--------------------------------------------

It was nine o'clock, and Warren Bowen was already having a bad day. He had fallen out of bed, lost a sock, and missed breakfast. Now he was late to Advanced Potions, which he had been told was taught by Snape, and was hell if you weren't in Slytherin.

In Warren's books there was no such thing as a good first day of school.

Breathless, he flung open the door to the Potion's room. Snape glared at him as he entered.

"Five minutes late, five points from Ravenclaw. Now take your seat." Warren sat down in the only seat available, beside Nina. She looked as if she was having a worse day than he was. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, as if she had been crying.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Nina's face contorted in fury.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" she snapped. "I really wish people would just leave me alone!" Unfortunately, Snape heard them.

"Twenty points from Ravenclaw, Bowen. Don't make it fifty." He turned back to the board and finished writing the instructions for a colour-changing potion. Warren looked over at Nina, whose dark curtain of hair had fallen over her face, hiding it from view, and then looked around the class. Isabelle was at the front with Evie. Miranda had paired up with Blake, talking in hushed tones as they stole glances at Nina. Marijah was sitting with a lanky Slytherin boy, who looked rather unhappy at having her for a partner.

"Come on," Warren muttered to Nina, "we should get started." Nina nodded and they brewed their potion in silence.

When the bell rang, Nina cleaned up their cauldron, while Warren bottled a potion sample to give to Snape. Seeing that Nina was gone, he quickly caught up to Blake.

"Say, do you know what's wrong with Nina today?" Warren asked.

"Well," Blake replied, "Miranda said that she had another one of her…_things_… at breakfast."

"And?"

"And nothing. Nina ran off afterwards. She and Isabelle were late to Potions as well, though not as late as you." Blake lowered his voice. "Old Snape didn't take a point off of them."

"Snape is head of Slytherin house. He favors them." Blake shook his head.

"Must be nice to be in Slytherin," he said.

"Yeah."

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Warren and Nina weren't the only ones having a bad day. Harry Potter was in a bad mood, which he related to having Potions first thing in the morning. He knew the fact that he had gotten into Advanced Potions would annoy Snape, and so he braced himself for the onslaught of insults. Sure enough, Snape rose to the occasion, singling out Harry for things that really weren't necessary. If it weren't for Warren Bowen, Harry would have gone mad by the end of class.

It was nice to see Snape pick on someone else for once.

Harry had hoped that his day would get better as he walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Unfortunately, he was about to be sorely disappointed.

Malcolm Sykes was a man who emitted a strong air of authority. Like in Potions, the class fell silent as he entered the room.

Professor Sykes started class by taking attendance. He, like many other people, reacted to reading Harry's name on the register. However, he seemed to react in exactly the same way that Snape had that first Potions class five years ago.

"Well, well, well," he said, "it seems we have, Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived in the class, hmm?" The Slytherins, with the exception of the three transfers, chuckled. Everyone else glared at Professor Sykes.

"It does seem that Mr. Potter got an "O" on his O.W.L.," he continued, "but I wonder if that was simply because of his _connections_." Sykes focused his piercing blue eyes on Harry. Harry glared back at him.

"Mr. Potter, please come to the front of the room. I'd like to see what you can do. The rest of you," he said to the class, "move the desks against the walls." While the rest of the class was moving the desks (Hermione was smart and used a levitation spell), Sykes smirked at Harry.

"It's time to see how good you really are, Potter," he said, that smirk which was so like Snape's never leaving his face. By now all the desks had been cleared and the rest of the class stood around, waiting to see what Sykes would do next.

"Mr. Potter and I are going to demonstrate the proper way to do a Shield Charm. Potter, go and stand over there." He pointed to the other side of the room, just in front of the doorway. As soon as Harry had gotten there however, Sykes had sent a curse at him. Harry had barely enough time to block it before it hit him. Somebody gasped and some people even went so far as to clap. Sykes's eyes narrowed.

"Did I tell you to use a Shield Charm, Potter?" Without waiting for a reply, he carried on. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for not following instructions." Harry glared at him. "Now let's try again, Potter." Sykes shot a Jelly Legs curse at Harry, who blocked it with ease.

"Now," he said to the class. "I want you to pair off and practice the charm. I trust that you all know at least _one_ hex." They spent the whole class doing this, only the transfers and the former DA members having any luck with the charm. Sykes dismissed the class at the bell, shooting a malevolent glance at Harry. Harry returned it, filing out of the classroom with the rest of the class.

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Later that night, Miranda, Shelly, and Ciara gathered in a corner of the Gryffindor common room. Having finished their homework, they discussed the events of the day, more specifically Nina's space out.

"So you don't know exactly what happened?" Shelly asked for the tenth time. Miranda shook her head.

"One minute she was fine and the next…"she trailed off, starting blankly at the far wall.

"Maybe she just-" Miranda cut Ciara off.

"No, whatever she saw must have been really bad for her to have freaked out like that. Something's going to happen, something bad. I can feel it." The three girls fell silent, each retreating into her own thoughts. In each of their hearts, they knew that something was about to happen at Hogwarts. Something big. And they knew that this event would be the event that would either unite them, or divide them.

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Elsewhere in the castle, Marijah Zabini slipped out of the Slytherin common. Walking down the corridor, she looked around, and then disappeared into thin air.


End file.
